1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hardening agent for hardening affected tissues of the digestive system and, more particularly, to a hardening agent for hardening the affected tissues of the digestive system, suitable for curing the affected tissues thereof by withering, hardening, fixing or fibrillating the affected tissues thereof by injecting a medicine or agent in a non-operative way into the esophagophleboma, piles, the site of the rectal prolapse, the site of the prolapse of the rectal mucosa and the affected uplift tissues (carcinomatous polyps) of the large intestine and the rectum under observation by the proctoscope or endoscope or under X-ray examination.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventional hardening agents for curing the esophagophleboma and the piles of a light or intermediate degree include, for example, ethanol amine of oleic acid, polydecanol, phenol almond oil and so on. The tumor of the digestive system is subjected to percutaneous ethanol injection therapy.
The piles of a severe degree, the rectal prolapse and the prolapse of the rectal mucosa are treated in an operative way.
Heretofore, as the method for non-operatively curing the esophagophleboma and the piles, there has been employed hardening therapy for hardening the affected tissues by injecting various hardening agents into the affected tissues. Focuses of the affected tissues are brought into an inactive state by withering, hardening, fixing or fibrillating the focuses thereof due to the embolism of the blood vessels of the affected tissues or due to the inflammation-induced repair reaction of the peripheral tissues. This hardening therapy requires neither general anesthesia nor laparotomy. Hence, the risk is so small that this therapy presents the advantage that it can extensively be applied to weakening patients or old patients. Desirable conditions for a hardening agent include strong astringency and hemostatic effect. The aseptic inflammation reaction induced by injection of the hardening agent can reduce the extent of edema, congestion and exudation if the acute inflammation reaction could be eliminated for a short period of time, thereby capable of preventing the affected tissues from causing necrosis. When the aseptic inflammation reaction has been transferred to its chronic inflammation phase, then the tissues are withered, hardened, fixed and fibrillated and the focuses disappear. Hence, the desired curing object can be achieved.
The conventional hardening agents, however, are limited in uses, as will be described hereinafter. More specifically, such hardening agents as having strong action require injection under direct examination by X-rays while admixing a contrast medium with the hardening agent, because there is the risk of necrosing the tissues if they would be leaked from the blood vessels. On the other hand, hardening agents having mild action is so applied as to harden the affected tissues by withering, hardening, fixation or fibrosis by injecting the tissues of the focal site outside the blood vessels with the hardening agents. Hence, in a state that the veins are varicose, the hardening agents are little employed solely. Particularly, for large esophagophleboma, a two-step therapy is employed such that the hardening agent having stronger action is injected directly into the vessels, while the hardening agent having milder action is injected into the surrounding tissues. Thus, the kinds of the hardening agents should be chosen in accordance with the condition of a disease, and multi-injection required is laborious. Particularly, in curing the piles, the hardening agents are so adapted as to be effective for a small amount of bleeding and a light degree of the prolapse of the anus, however, they are not so adapted as to be effective for such cases as requiring digital replacement of the anal prolapse caused during defecation or as being slipping down from the anus and being ordinarily out of place. These cases require operative curing. Further, operative reparative fixation is applied to cases of the rectal prolapse and the prolapse of the rectal mucosa, however, they are out of adaptation of the hardening agents.